Heard in the Cheap Seats

It seems that the Pittsburgh Penguins have the Flyers number.  After dispensing of the Flyers in 5 games in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Penguins have followed that up by winning 4 of their 5 meetings with the Flyers this year.  The 4^th win came today in easily the most heartbreaking fashion of the season for the Flyers.  Not even the largest crowd in Flyers regular season history could prevent the Penguins from handing the Flyers a stunning 5-4 loss at the Wachovia Center.  It was a great game to watch, with both teams flying around the ice, good hitting, Cote catching Godard with a nice uppercut, and some nice end to end action.  The Flyers staged 2 3^rd period comebacks and still wound up on the short end of the stick.  I am not going to get on my podium and rant about one loss ruining the season because that would be stupid on my part.  The Flyers have a very good, young team that will have an opportunity to make a run at the Stanley Cup.  The fact that they were able to battle back today against the Penguins showed their toughness.  They were able to overcome a poor effort on the power play once again (0 for 4 and now 5 for their last 49).  Hopefully when Briere returns he can help cure some of the Flyers power play woes.  There were a few defensive breakdowns by the Flyers, but in the end, it will be one play from today’s game that stands out in everybody’s mind.  With about 3 minutes to go in the 3^rd period, and the score tied 4-4, the Penguins Dupuis had a breakaway, but was closely trailed by Coburn.  Marty Biron decided to come 30 feet out of the goal and attack Dupuis, and he was able to control the puck, but he had to get rid of it immediately or face a delay of game penalty.  What followed was pretty tough to watch.   Essentially, Biron dropped the puck behind him, right to Dupuis, who fired at an empty net and Sidney Crosby deflected the puck in for a crushing goal.  As I was watching the game, the CSN guys actually said that Biron made a “heads up” play and then got a bad break!  I almost threw my remote through the TV.  How was that a “heady” play?  To me, it was the exact opposite.  I understand what Biron was trying to do, but as I watched the play over and over, I felt he should have held his position and allowed Coburn to try and drive Dupuis off the puck, and if that didn’t happen, be a freaking goalie and make the damn save!  That one play ended up erasing another great effort by Mike Richards, along with many other Flyers. 

Again, I am not going to say that the world is ending or anything, but this game was a microcosm of the same glaring problem the Flyers have had for years.  They just can’t seem to solidify their goaltending.  We all know that with a good team and great goaltending, a Stanley Cup can be had.  Biron played very well in the playoff run last year, and seemed to be finding his groove here of late, but so much for all that!  Does any Flyer fan feel comfortable with Biron or Nittymaki as the goalie that will lead the Flyers to the Cup?  I sure as hell don’t.  Maybe they can make a trade for a goalie, but that is pretty tough to do.  What I do know is that myself, along with many Flyer fans, are pretty sick of being let down by the goalies.  It’s tough to know that you have a team with a lot of talent, a lot of guts and toughness, but without a goalie that you can lean on to make the tough saves.  Yes, the Flyers tend to have some defensive breakdowns, but that’s hockey.  It happens.  The problem is it seems the Flyers pay for every little mistake they make at the blue line because they do not have a goalie that can erase those mistakes.  I wish it was different.  I wish I felt better about the goaltending, but I feel like it’s Groundhog Day.  Déjà vu all over again as they say.

The Flyers needed this win in the worst way.  They had lost three of the previous four games, and they were facing the NHL leading Boston Bruins on the road.  Not to mention Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall were scratched from the game once again with the flu.  On paper, this probably should have been the Flyers fourth loss in five games.  But, as we all know, the games are not played on paper.  While the Flyers have been struggling of late, the Eastern Conference has gotten much tighter.  Something I have been worried about for awhile.  If you’ve been watching this team, you know that they have not been playing good hockey.  But, one thing I have seen from the Flyers all year is the ability to bounce back.  It is that ability that has kept the Flyers from any prolonged slumps, save for the very beginning of the season. 

So, the Flyers were in a position where they needed to bounce back.  They needed to be resilient.  Their resilience allowed them to come away from Boston with a hard earned 4-3 overtime victory.  It was a hell of a hockey game, and a great effort from the Flyers, fighting back from a 3-1 deficit.  The goals were scored by Gagne, Metropolit, Hartnell, and the game winner by Jones.  The game winner was really a lucky bounce off a Bruin that caromed in, but a little luck never hurt anybody.  This is a Bruins yeam that doesn’t lose many games, so to come away from Boston with a victory is huge for the Flyers.  They can now ride some momentum from the win and welcome Richards and Upshall back to the lineup.  It would definitely be nice to rattle off a few wins in a row here to solidify their position within the conference.  With the next three games coming against the Thrashers, Senators, and Islanders, the Flyers have a great opportunity in front of them and they need to seize it.  But, let’s enjoy this big win first.  I just wanted to hit on a few points regarding the game.

1)       Power Play- The Flyers went 2 for 6 on the power play against the Bruins, which is a good sign.  The Flyers had gone 0 for their last 13 and something like 1 for their last 28.  Hopefully they can continue the strong play in the Bruins game.  The power play is best in the NHL at home and near the bottom of the league on the road.

2)       Penalties- The Flyers were called for only 3 penalties in the game.  One of those was a dumb penalty by Nittymaki for batting the puck over the glass with less than 2 minutes to go in the third period.  It’s a good thing that didn’t waste a great effort by the team!  The Flyers are at the bottom of the league in power play differential, and have grown increasingly frustrated with the calls that are going against them.  Either way, it was nice to not have to spend half the game killing penalties.

3)       Goaltending- I doubt I am the first to say it, but I think it’s time to make Nittymaki the #1 goaltender.  It’s not like we have a Brodeur in net, so I have no problem with the platoon, but at some point I think you need to reward performance. Hot goaltending is what carries most teams through the Stanley Cup playoffs, so why not use the same philosophy now?  Look, both goalies are going to play, but I think it’s time to reverse the roles of the two goaltenders.  This is not a knee jerk reaction from today’s game where Biron was shaky, allowing 3 goals in the first period, and then was pulled and Nittymaki was perfect the rest of the way.  Look at the numbers. Across the board, Nittymaki’s numbers are better.  Give him the shot he has earned.

What the Flyers need now is a nice little four game win streak.  All in all though, it was an excellent performance today against the best team in the NHL.

There are peaks and valleys that every NHL team goes through. The key is to be able to fight through those valleys. Well, the Flyers have hit one of those valleys in their season. It has been awhile for them, so they are not accustomed to it. Really, other than a sub par start to the season, the Flyers have been able to avoid any extended stretch of lackluster hockey. Now, I don’t want to beat a negative drum too much here, but a little banging won’t hurt. The Flyers have gone 4-6 in their last ten games, 2 of those losses coming in shootouts, so technically that makes them 4-4-2 in NHL land. The last two losses have come consecutively to a struggling Penguins team at home and then last night to a bad Tampa Bay Lightning team on the road. Like I said, I am not going to come down too hard on them, since I do think that some of the injuries are finally catching up with them. I have already stated how hard this team plays, and applauded them for winning in spite of all the injuries the have suffered. I guess it could only go on so long. They are actually starting to get a bit healthier, although Timmonen having his face split open last night didn’t help. But, in a tight Eastern Conference, two weeks of bad hockey can cause a team to fall from the second seed to out of the playoffs.

The most alarming thing to me in the last two losses is that they were not only outplayed, they were outworked and out hustled. That isn’t Flyers hockey. The other alarming trend is that the Flyers have proven themselves to be a tough team to beat at the Wachovia Center, compiling a 14-5-3 record, but a barely over .500 record of 9-7-6 record on the road. The biggest stat to look at with that is the power play, where the Flyers rank tops in the league at home and all the way down at 26^th on the road. Talk about inconsistent! All of this may just be a product of the injuries, and guys logging too much ice time because of that and having tired legs. It really doesn’t matter what the reason is, because the Flyers need to play better hockey, starting tonight against Florida. This is one of those seasons where the Flyers, more than most teams, need the All Star break to get healthy and come back fresh. They just need to refocus and get back to playing aggressive hockey. The silver lining here is that it couldn’t have happened at a better time. The schedule is going to give the FlyGuys are break with only 9 games in 28 days starting tonight. Many of those games are against teams the Flyers should handle. Let’s see if they can get it done.

There is one Philadelphia team in the midst of their season that this site has failed to give any love to.  That team is the Flyers, and it changes now.  The Flyers started out this season with a lot of expectations for themselves after a nice run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.  But, expectations do not lead to results, as the Flyguys stumbled to a 0-3-3 start.  Well, they have certainly turned their season around, going 21-7-6 since that horrible start and now sit tied with the New York Rangers atop the Atlantic Division. 

The Flyers return home for the first time tonight,  against the Minnesota Wild following their grueling 6 game road trip in which they went 2-2-2.  Now, I realize that record doesn’t look all that impressive, but it is tough to win on the road in the NHL, and it is even tougher to do it when 9 of your players are out due to an injury.  I realize that hockey is not even on the Mt. Rushmore of professional sports these days, but if you haven’t watched this year’s edition of the Flyers. You are missing out.  I have always given credit to the Flyers organization, specifically Ed Snider, for their passion to win the Stanley Cup. 

Even though Snider runs both the Sixers and Flyers, he has always been more involved with the Flyers.  That is completely fine if you love the Flyers because the man despises losing.  But, here is the real point I wanted to get to:  this team is exactly what Philadelphia fans love to cheer for.  When you think about a team that has nine players missing from the lineup, and continues to scrap and fight and win games, that is amazing.  That shows toughness, desire, and character, and those are three traits that every Philly fan admires.  This team has a little bit of everything.  They have scorers and play makers who can skate like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, and Mike Knuble, not to mention Danny Briere, who has only been on the ice for 9 games this year.  They have solid goaltending.  They have an amazing puck handling defenseman in Timmonen, who is tied for second on the team with 22 assists.  They have tough guys like Riley Cote who are willing to go toe to toe with Donald Brashear twice in one game. 

You should enjoy this team because they don’t make excuses, they aren’t flashy, but they play with toughness and grit and they are getting results.  To have as many guys go out with injuries as the Flyers have and still keep winning is ridiculous.  Most teams would have folded the tent and complained that they can’t catch a break.  Not the Flyers.  They just played even harder.  Tuesday night, in the last game of their grueling road trip the Flyers lost in a shootout to the Washington Capitals.  That was quite an accomplishment when you consider the Capitals were at home, and  had revenge on their mind from a 7-1 ass whooping the Flyers put on them recently. 

Obviously, a lot of credit goes to the players, but credit has to also go to head coach John Stevens.  Stevens has kept an even keel all year and I believe it has rubbed off on the team.  Even when faced with adversity, this team continues to fight through and thrive.  Now, I am not saying they will go on and win the Stanley Cup this year, but they are definitely going to go down swinging if they do not.  The rest of the NHL better hope this team never gets healthy.  So, if you get a chance to check out the Flyers live or on the tube, I recommend you do so.  If you don’t, you are missing out on the type of team we wish we could cheer for every season.

After a huge Eagles win yesterday, and the Giants looming this Sunday, I pretty much can’t keep my mind focused.  Not that my mind being a jumbled mess is anything out of the ordinary, but in a week like this one, my anxiousness reaches new heights.  By Saturday, I will have whipped myself into a frenzy.  Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit horse tranquilizers.  So because of all this, I have decided to post the second version of some random thoughts that I am having.  I did this a while back before this site went on hiatus for a bit and will most likely continue it periodically.  The first part are just some thoughts and other crap regarding the game yesterday and then I will probably just do some rapid fire thoughts that will have no discernible rhyme or reason.  Stealing for a second from Saturday Night Live…And now, deep thoughts, by Anthony Iafolla…

Eagles Game Stuff

I realize that Minnesota is frigid, but playing football games in domes pisses me off.  What a home field advantage that can be.  Unless of course you are the Vikings, in which case you burn two timeouts on defense because you can’t hear.

Jason Avant has moved up my list of favorite Eagles.  5 catches, four for first downs and huge catches when the Birds were backed up in their own territory.  He is the EXACT opposite of teammate Reggie Brown.  The guy has great hands.  Reminds of Na Brown, because, you know, he always had the best hands on the team. (note: that was sarcasm if you didn’t understand)

Speaking of Reggie Brown, does he not know how to run a route that is deep enough to convert a first down or get in the end zone.  Just like the last play against the Skins, he halted a drive by running his route one yard shy of a first down.  Doubt we will see him next year.

 Back to Avant, during the game I was growing increasingly frustrated by the Eagles being forced to settle for field goals, and on a drive that began with the Birds pinned deep, Avant had a huge catch.  This drive resulted in a punt as the offense sputtered.  Of course, I was not please and my buddy Zamp pointed out at the time that the drive may shift field position and was a huge drive by them.  Man, he couldn’t have been more right.  That drive was huge.  Field position was huge in a close game.  More on Zamp later…

 Adrian Peterson is a beast, and to only give up one big run to him was huge by the defense.

 Brian Dawkins has never made a tackle with 2 feet on the ground.  And I love the forearm/rabbit punch he gives opponents.

 Uhhh…Tarvaris Jackson is not only a crappy quarterback, he makes a great rag doll.  Clemons 1-Jackson 0.

Great turnaround by the defense in the second half.  They were dominating.  Jim Johnson is a mad scientist and we are fortunate to have him.  Could you imagine if Reid was the head coach AND we had an average defensive coordinator?  Good God!

 Way too many 3^rd downs converted by the Vikes in the first half.  Against the Giants that would bite us in the ass.

 I was shocked that the Eagles blitzed as little as they did until late in the game, but, like I said JJ is the man so screw it.

Special teams was huge factor, but can the Australian kick like that in the Meadowlands.  And I think Akers has to wear “Oops I Crapped My Pants” when he kicks in the Meadowlands.

I hate Joe Buck!  I don’t even need to say how I feel about Troy Aikman.

Please use Buckhalter.  Please?  I realize they had to plug him in at fullback because Klecko went down with an injury, but I don’t trust Reid to utilize him.

Just a thought, but when Brian Westbrook is on your team, he is best used with the ball in his hands and not as a decoy.

The offensive line needs to do a better job in both pass and run blocking next week.

Sheldon Brown is a solid corner but man he has feet for hands. 

Trent Cole is unreal.  He had a tough match up with Mckinnie and he still lead the team in tackles and barely gets a rest.

Can everybody shut up about the Eagles being “the team no one wants to play”?  They are a very good team that fell short of their potential, but they are in and now let’s just talk about the match ups.

Enough about the McNabb benching and fans saying he should be sent elsewhere.  The guy was great yesterday.  I have read that he was just good enough, but I disagree.  They had pressure on him all day and he made some huge throws.  Be careful what you ask for.  The dude has won more than any quarterback we have ever had!  Shut up and enjoy having a quarterback that gives you a chance in every game.  He’s not perfect and I know he hasn’t won the big one, but much of that is not his fault.  That’s a whole topic itself so I’m done there.

Besides McNabb, Westbrook, Jackson, Dawkins, Cole, Samuel, Akers, Avant, and Rocca, an underrated MVP for the Eagles was Brad Childress.  He is an absolute bonehead with the decisions he makes.  Especially leaving the Eagles with a timeout by throwing on 2^nd down at the end of the first half.

Speaking of that, the Eagles suck in the 2 minute drill.  Let’s hope the season doesn’t hang on us needing to score in the two minute drill.

For once, I really don’t have anything bad to say about Andy Reid.

That screen pass was amazing!  Here’s the scene.  I am at my buddy Zamp’s with some friends, and I start asking where Westbrook has been.  Zamp, who I now believe is a prophet and that scares me, not only calls a huge play by Westy, but simultaneously coins a new nickname.  He tells me, “Westbrook is like a champagne bottle.  He is about to pop at any minute.”…Genius.  Brian “Champagne” Westbrook.  I will give myself credit because right when this conversation took place I followed by saying it will be on a screen pass because the Vikings had been aggressive all day.  That was a great moment.

Nothing better than watching a game with your boys.  Its stuff that you will never forget.

Other Random Thoughts

The bad part about a site like this is now everyone knows that I sucked in my picks this weekend.  Wow!  At least the only game I cared about ended the way I thought.

I can’t believe American Idol is still a show.  When is it over?!

I think Facebook is huge because we all have a little stalker in us.

I am sick of the lack of a playoff system in college football.  It’s all about money, and they could figure out a system if they wanted to.  But, with Utah beating Bama and a USC team that can beat anyone, this year pisses me off.  What’s crazy is there are so many bogus arguments that I’ve heard, and one of them is not wanting to make the regular season meaningless.  I’m sorry, but haven’t they realized that teams like Alabama and Texas Tech end up making these bowls meaningless because they are disappointed to even be there?

Glad I don’t have to hear Jay Bilas stroke Carolina hoops and say they might go undefeated.  In this day an age no team will go undefeated…unless a team like Carolina transfers to the Ivy League.

The Winter Classic in the NHL is an awesome event, especially on HD.  I hope the rumor I heard about the Flyers wanting to play one at Happy Valley comes to fruition.

A girl with a gorgeous body wearing a football jersey is hot to me.  Of course, I guess a girl with a gorgeous body wearing ANYTHING is hot, but still the jersey thing gets me every time.

Football pregame shows are absolutely atrocious and getting worse each week.

Fireplaces are amazing. 

If the Chiefs, Raiders, Lions, Browns, Bengals, and Rams compiled a roster to field one team, could that team finish above .500?

The fact that Stephon Marbury may end up with the Celtics is ridiculous.  I hope they regret signing a selfish little douchebag like him.

How great of a tight end would LeBron James be in the NFL?

Now I know why I never turned in my papers in high school and college.  Just from typing all this, I am losing my mind.  That is a sign that I should shut it down, so that’s what I will do.  Until next time…